Is an attorney's fee paid for work in preparation for trial and in trial of a client's case refundable if the client pleads guilty? Finding the parties' attorney-client representation agreement ambiguous on this point the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that a jury must decide what the parties' intended in Clark v. Hectus and Strause and attorney C. Thomas Hectus, No 2010-CA-00008 (February 25, 2011).
Joseph Clark got charged in a federal cocaine conspiracy and trafficking case. He paid the law firm Hectus & Strause and attorney C. Thomas Hectus $10,000. There was no formal representation agreement and the correspondence between client and attorney referred to the fee as a "flat fee" arrangement. In any event, attorney Hectus later wrote Clark and informed him that since it appeared the case would go on to trial an additional $10,000 fee was payable to cover preparation for trial and trial. Clark paid the second $10,000 but then pleaded guilty. Since his case did not go to trial, he demanded refund of all or part of the second $10,000.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals treated the parties' correspondence as their attorney-client representation agreement but found that it was ambiguous as to whether they intended that all or part of the second $10,000 would be refundable in the event the case did not go to trial:
Because the parties did not create a fee contract that addressed the issue of who was entitled to what in the event that a trial did not not take place, the question will have to be resolved by a finder of fact.
The Court flatly and summarily rejected the attorney's argument that representation of Clark at his sentencing was the equivalent of trial representation.
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